Spinning into control on the road of life

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“If we are at peace with ourselves, then we will hold on to the spiritual blessings that we receive; otherwise they will dissipate, like water running through the cracks in a broken pot.”— Rabbi Yoel Glick

One day I was driving along up and over a mountain pass. It was a beautiful evening and all was right with the world. I approached a curve over which I had driven hundreds of times when, suddenly, the car started to fish tail. I began to do everything in my power to bring the car back under control, but to no avail; I was losing it!

Having lost it, I did the unthinkable. I simply slammed on the brakes. This ran against everything I knew about driving on ice (for that’s what happened — I hit a patch of ice I had not been expecting). I hit the brakes and, miraculously, I stopped fishtailing. That was the good news.

Less good was that the car was now doing a helicopter routine on the icy mountain road. I was completely out of control, but with that I was at peace. I simply hung on to the wheel and let the car do the rest. It left the road, hit a gravel turnout and, with newfound traction, came to a stop. Once again I was in control...